The Lonely Duke Waited Months for His Bride — Then She Arrived With His Missing Son
Chapter 15
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At the dower house that afternoon, Honoria reported the exchange as gently as she could. Marian's face grew still."Did he say we were engaged?""No, but he allowed others to believe the matter nearly settled."When Benedict arrived, Marian asked to speak with him in Honoria's drawing room. The older lady remained nearby, her knitting untouched."Did you tell people we are to marry?" Marian asked."I said there might be an announcement. Dacre has made your position intolerable. I will not let him damage your good name.""Then you believe we should be engaged?""It would put an end to speculation. Oliver adores you. You know how much happier this house has become. I would ensure you were treated with every respect.""Is that a proposal, Benedict?"He realized how unromantic his words sounded and tried to begin again. "It is the honorable course.""Honorable for whom?""For you. For us. For Oliver."Marian's hands tightened together. "And what of you? Do you wish me as your wife because you love me, or because you need this difficulty to disappear?"He loved her. In the quiet after the flood, he had nearly said so. Now he stood in a room where his careless public words had made her future a matter of gossip. If he confessed love here, he feared she would hear another demand disguised as devotion. Instead of admitting that fear, he retreated to the only promises he knew how to make."I will be a faithful husband," he said. "You need never question my duty."Marian looked as though he had struck the one place she kept unguarded. "Duty," she repeated. "You have given me every possible assurance except the one I asked for.""I am trying to protect you.""Then you must learn that protecting me and choosing for me are not the same thing.""Marian—""I will not become your Duchess because your neighbors require an explanation, nor because your son needs comfort. I came hoping to be known. I cannot marry if I am to spend my life wondering whether I am wanted or merely useful."He took a step forward, then stopped. Honoria looked down at her knitting, allowing neither of them to escape the truth."I think I must leave Harrowmere," Marian said.Benedict wanted to command another solution. This time, he stopped himself. "If that is your decision," he said, barely above a whisper, "I will not stand in your way."Marian nodded. It was what she had asked of him, and it hurt worse than she had expected.After he left, Marian sat by the window. She knew he cared for her, but caring had not stopped him from arranging her future without asking. She would not build a marriage on the hope that one day he might learn the difference.Marian's trunk stood open on the bedroom floor. She folded her few dresses carefully, placing Oliver's drawing between the pages of a book where it would not be crushed. Lady Honoria had already written to a family who had offered her a teaching position months before; there would be wages, lodgings, and work suited to her abilities. Her carriage seat was reserved for the 22nd of September.